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Reviews
Too Late (2015)
an embarrassingly poor film
Existing reviews have at least one thing right: the camera work is impressive: very long takes with no cuts. But in just about every other respect this movie is amateurish, treats women as in a cheap 1960s porn movie and features cringe-worthy writing. Amateurish to the hilt. A few very good actors cannot save the adolescent, self-conscious dialog. The bad actors don't help either. The estimable John Hawkes is a round peg in the square hole of this movie. We stopped watching after 40 minutes.
Secrets and Lies (2015)
the current season: a huge descent into embarrassing melodrama
The original Secrets & Lies was a fine Australian production. The story was gripping, the writing very good and the performances top notch. Then an American version was produced: same story, almost the same script but nowhere near as polished as the original. Ryan Philippe is not a strong presence and Juliette Lewis's version of the unsympathetic and aggressively prosecutorial detective was distractingly overdone. We don't know whether she was overdirected or whether she overacted on her own, but the result was misconceived. It is to Lewis's credit that in spite of h her exaggerated performance one could discern an actor with considerable thespian chops. (I'd add that the inspector in the original Australian production was a pleasure to watch. He exhibited a restrained, polished and almost elegantly dogged skeptical persistence. The actor was the kind of pro that is hard to find in American television.)
The current season presents a new story whose outline I won't rehash here. What stands out is the embarrassing mediocrity of the writing and the cringe-worthy melodramatic acting. The whole thing looks like a parody of a Lifetime movie. Lingering shots of pained faces and corny music telling you -no, ordering you- to feel what you're supposed to feel. This dreadful show cannot be laid entirely at the feet of the actors. Jordana Brewster is indeed a community theater performer. But Michael Ealy, who turned in an outstanding performance in his appearances on The Good Wife, reverts to Lifetime acting here. The fault clearly lies with the writing and the directors. And Juliette Lewis once again grossly overdoes the hard-ass detective. The episodes are drawn out and the whole thing is as boring as a bag of hair. A crashing disappointment.
Fatal Memories (2015)
not good
This movie is in barely different from the typical Lifetime film: bland, unimaginative writing, boilerplate plot, uninteresting sets, boring directorial choices and mediocre acting. What "distinguished" this movie was the uncommonly obvious indications as to who the real perp is. You will know whodunit 15 minutes into this movie.
What keeps Lifetime movies so consistently bad? Are there no competent writers, directors and actors in Canada? That seems unlikely. Is it budget constraints? Maybe a movie a week makes higher budgets for individual films prohibitive. Beats me, but this movie is an excellent example of a film that did not have to be this bad.... or did it?